So Close to Being Free
by Soul for Music
Summary: The Batter has always been single-minded when it came to his goals. No matter who or what crossed his path, he would always adhere to this simple task: purification. However, the simplicity of one kind act-albeit unexpectedly-may potentially change him for the better... even if it means a duel of ideals between brothers. (AU/non-canon)
1. Welcome to Zone 2

He stared at it, transfixed, while delightful thoughts started to brew inside his mind. _Food_ _._ All he could imagine was what a delicacy it would be once he got his paws on it. Birds were a rare sight to be had in a forsaken place such as this. The tiny songbird was flitting around a single spot on the rooftop, pecking at a crevice in the metal. Probably an insect nest of some sort. It was so engrossed with the crooked gap that it never bothered to glance up. That was especially important.

He slowly inhaled in excitement before placing a tentative paw forward, turning still as a statue once he'd done so. The prey still hadn't taken notice of him. He now took two steps before pausing again. Nothing yet. Two more strides—he didn't want to get too overzealous and make a misstep. So far, so good. He had cleared nearly half the distance now. But was it enough? If he darted forward now, there may still be a slight chance for it to notice and react in time to escape. No. He didn't want to chance it. He had to be sure of himself first. One more step would probably do the trick, so he went ahead and finally crouched into a proper stance.

The bird suddenly lifted its head without warning. He instantly froze, mentally panicking. Had it somehow heard him? Was it now aware that he was there? Thankfully, by some sort of small miracle, it didn't bother to turn and peer behind at the stalking feline. It instead looked to the sky, possibly musing over the scarcity of clouds in this area… or something else decidedly lame. After a moment of quiet, it resumed its curious pecking.

Now was the time. Raising his haunches ever so slightly, he began generating momentum in his hind legs. The looser his muscles, the faster he could sprint. After a few brief seconds of this, he launched himself forward.

An abrupt instance of light flashed in the not too far off distance, the slightest hint of a thrumming sound echoing from the source. Startled, the songbird furiously flapped its wings to gain velocity and rose quickly into the air. A single thump sounded below, now drawing its attention. In the very spot where he had perched just a moment ago now lay a cat with a pair of open, empty paws in front of its bewildered face. _Talk about too close of a call_ , the bird silently noted. _I need a place that he can't easily reach me from_.

There was such a spot at the far end of the rooftop. He noticed some external piping that rose from the metal foundation in several collected rows. _Just try to pounce on me from among those. You have no real chance of it._ He glided over to the brass protrusions and settled on one that was coated with condensation. _Must be a part of the air conditioning system. At least I can drink from this._ He began pecking up the water droplets one at a time.

Disgruntled at the gross failure of his first attempt, the cat wheeled around to realize the bird hadn't gone too far. _Who the fuck warped in here at a time like this?_ he wondered about that flare of light. _I swear, if it turns out to be that brother of mine…_ He didn't bother to finish that thought. There was still a potentially good lunch to be had. At least it wasn't the terrible concoction that the cafeteria workers tried to offer him daily.

The bird was now busy poking at the pipes. He didn't really care for whatever it was doing, so long as he could maneuver fast enough to actually grab it this time. Once again, he moved through his stalking ritual, even daring to make the gap lesser than before. With all those bothersome pipes in the way, he was forced into this alternative if he wanted to be successful. The bird surely wouldn't remain much longer. It had to be close to satisfying its thirst.

 _Three, two, one… go!_ He sprung up and forward, paws at the ready to seize his prey.

The bird rounded on him suddenly, anticipating this moment. He had been more careful this time, observing the cat from the corner of his peripheral vision. Rather than head upward, he veered to one side. As there was no more rooftop beyond those pipes, the cat rushed past with a despairing scream.

The feline wanted to slam his eyes shut in horror at what had just happened. He clawed rapidly at open air, though he knew there was no purchase to be had. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. He dared to glance downward as he catapulted to what had to be certain death.

 _So this was it for him. Shit._


	2. Chapter 2

The man scrutinized his new surroundings with a dissatisfied frown. How was it possible that this place seemed even fouler than his previous environment? Physically, it didn't give as much of an impression in its over-simplistic design. Buildings of varying heights were all he could see before him. Realizing he was standing at a port, he paused to check the watery substance immediately surrounding it. At least it wasn't a roiling mess of meat and blood. The cloudy gel-like substance was vaguely reminiscent of plastic in appearance. Still disgusting, nevertheless.

"I shouldn't waste time loitering around here," he whispered to himself. "I need to find the guardian of this Zone and purify it quickly."

He swiftly made his way from the dock, heading over to inspect a sign located beneath the high walkway that connected the two front buildings. _Bismarck. North = Library. Southeast = residential area_. From what he could see, the library was a very short distance ahead of him. If anything, it could provide him with some hints as to the guardian's identity and where his residence is located. He started forward at a brisk pace.

Once at the base steps at the entryway, he paused to examine the outside of the library a bit more closely. Some faded paint spread across one of the walls. When he peered even closer, he could make out some words that had been scrawled by a lazy hand. _Whatever your needs, be sure to peruse my wares. Zacharie_. That bizarre salesman was defacing public property like this just to pull in shoppers? _Well, don't expect my credits to be filling your pockets anytime in the near…_ Wait, what was that sound?

He whipped around in alarm. _A specter, possibly?_ He gripped his bat a bit tighter, just in case. It was gradually becoming louder and clearer. Within the span of another second, he was able to recognize it for what it was. A scream. Someone nearby was screaming in terror, and approaching fast. Whoever it was, they were in trouble and probably running from something. A specter? The guardian? If this Zone's guardian was anything like Dedan, then he wouldn't be very surprised if that were the case. Until he identified which direction the scream was coming from.

He lifted his face skyward, stunned by the realization. Someone was falling! But who? As he watched, a sickening weight dropped from somewhere inside his chest. It was a cat. _The Judge?_ He wasn't aware that any other cats might be wandering the Zones. Deliberately dropping his bat, he hurried over to where it would undoubtedly land. Even with their uncanny ability to safely land on all fours, this drop was too immense for even a cat to survive on its own. Before it could impact, he curled his arms close enough to his chest so that he could ease the landing.

Still screaming bloody murder, the feline tumbled into his waiting grasp and fell against his chest. He grunted in surprise, the force a bit more than he was anticipating. Shaking uncontrollably, the cat was hardly more than a bundle of nerves from pure shock. Surprisingly, it had kept its eyes opened during the ordeal. There was an awful, resigned expression plastered on its face. It hadn't yet accepted the fact that it was no longer at risk of dying.

This cat was definitely not the Judge. The fur was a smoky grey, unlike that of the feline he was already familiar with. Its wide eyes were a pair of petrified emeralds, bright and full of color despite the dark expression that glazed them. Trying to handle the situation cautiously, the man held the frightened animal in the crook of one arm and grazed an uncertain hand along its back.

The cat shivered briefly in response before suddenly becoming dead still in the human's grasp. He blinked once. Twice. The fact that he could do so meant only one thing. Death hadn't claimed him. Baffled by this notion, he twisted around where he lay to sight the one whom he undoubtedly owed this gratitude. But he wasn't quite sure how to word it.

"You're not the Judge," the man stated simply. But it wasn't exactly a statement. His tone indicated that there was also a question laced in there.

"Um… no, I'm not," was all the cat could think to reply. "My name is Valerie."

The man stared down at the animal, puzzled. This one was just as capable of speech as the Judge was. Since the cat had already managed to flip itself over, the hand with which he had stroked the cat before now slowly lowered again, this time to nestle into the fur of its belly. Compulsively, his fingers weaved between the cat's sprawled front legs which were now curled in the air just above its chest.

The feline allowed himself a pleased purr before continuing. "You know my brother?"

The man nodded. "The Judge was to meet me here in Zone 2." Then, after a pause, "…You look nothing like him."

"We're not identical, no." Easy enough. The conversation was nice and simple, no questions that really required much thought. He wasn't quite sure if his mind had fully settled yet to really permit the finer nuances of speech.

The man was silent for a few moments while he measured the feline's current state. "It appears as though you'll be just fine now." With that brief assessment over, he knelt down and pulled his arm out from underneath the cat.

Valerie obligingly found purchase on the ground and turned around to stare up at his savior. "You never mentioned your name?"

"I'm the Batter." Again, just a simple response. "As soon as I reconvene with the Judge… your brother… I must be on my way. I have a very important task at hand that I must accomplish."

Valerie did his utmost to process these words as quickly as possible. He was under the impression that if he didn't respond fast enough, the man would just walk off without giving him a chance to return the favor for saving his life. "Allow me to accompany you, then."

Batter glanced down at him with unspoken inquiry.

"At least until I can repay you for rescuing me. That was a bold move on your part, I'll have you know. I could have attacked you out of fear and dealt some real damage to your face."

The man proceeded to ignore the last part of the cat's words. "I suppose I'm fine with it. But don't slow me down. I'll leave you behind should that be the case."

"Oh, no, no. Of course not. A cat can never truly find rest when he knows he owes someone a favor. I won't let you out of my sight until I have the chance to repay you."

"That's not necessary."

"But I insist! Just you wait. When we find Pablo and tell him what occurred, he'll agree with me. Then you'll have no choice but to let me help you."

"Pablo?" Batter cast him an odd look.

"That's right! You may refer to him as the Judge. …Oh, but don't tell him I told you that! He doesn't let anyone else call him by his name."

The man shifted where he stood, anxious to start forward again. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Judge is right now?"

Valerie shook his head. "The last time I saw him was at home this morning. He said he had something to get done today and took off. So I came here to the library, hoping we'd meet for a meal together at some point."

The mention of the building caused the Batter to glance up at its exterior once again. "How did you manage to fall down from there? I thought cats didn't have trouble with being in high places."

The feline sealed his mouth shut. He wasn't about to admit to the pathetic results of his failed hunt.

"Well?"

"I don't think the details are all that import— oh! Pablo!"

Batter's face whipped upward as a silvery tail flickered not too far ahead. Valerie was already well on his way over to greet his brother.


End file.
